


Color Me In

by Probably_Not_Batman



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternia and Earth are in the same universe, Collegestuck, Every other troll is still a troll, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Human Amporas, Human Nitrams, Human Serkets, M/M, Mentions of Rebellion, Mentions of War, Multi, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Slight blood mention, Slow Burn, Snarky characters, Soulmate AU, Soulmate Tattoos AU, Study Abroad Program
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-03-07 16:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13438371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Probably_Not_Batman/pseuds/Probably_Not_Batman
Summary: Eridan Ampora has always dreamed about finding his soulmate, but when a clue to their identity leads him farther from his home than he ever imagined going will he be able to make it?Alternatively: In which Eridan Ampora is 99% sure his soulmate is on Alternia and decides the best way to find them is to study abroad there for the foreseeable future.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Just a quick note!  
> Humans and Trolls both can have soulmate tattoos, which are just the outlines of the tattoo that fill in with color when one persons marked hand/arm touches their soulmates. Trolls normally only develop these for Matesprit's and Kismeisis's.  
> Hope you enjoy!

A shudder ran through the floor of the ship, just the slightest shifting of the metal panels beneath Eridan’s feet as a staticky click echoed from the speakers on the ceiling. Most of the passengers looked up, a few standing in the aisle, a few in their seats, and most at the back in the social compartment. Eridan didn’t know what he was expecting from the Alternian transport ship, but it certainly wasn’t seats with actual space and a room in the back with food and couches. Perhaps he’d just been in planes too often.

“ **Attention, passengers. We will be arriving at Alternia in approximately ten minutes. Please return to your seats and prepare for docking procedures. Thank you!** ’ chirped the voice of their captain, a troll with a golden sign on her uniform and helmet who had introduced herself before takeoff.

Eridan glanced up from the book across his lap, an Alternian History textbook, shooting a look at the woman sitting across the aisle from him. She, like him, had remained in her seat for the majority of the flight with a book in her hands, her short blonde hair neatly held back by a headband. The man next to her, Eridan would bet money he was her brother, had spent more time out of his seat but never once removed his headphones or his sunglasses as far as Eridan could tell.

He wondered what they were studying. Everyone here was a student after all, the second group of students to participate in the inter-planetary study abroad program. It was technically only supposed to last a semester, but at the end of the previous semester many of the students had asked to stay, so all students from Earth or Alternia were given the option to officially transfer at the end of their first semester.

Eridan himself was a history major, fascinated by the wars and expansion of the Alternian Empire. He’d spent two years in a local college, and though he’d been interested in the program his decision had still been made very last minute. The thought made his arm itch and he glanced across the aisle again.

Shades had finally taken his headphones off, chattering quietly with the blonde beside him. She carefully placed a bookmark in her book and shut it, her eyes flicking over to Eridan. The lavender gaze that Eridan couldn’t believe was natural met his own and he jumped at the knowing look she gave him before turning back to her brother, who was haphazardly leaning over the back of his seat to talk to another apparent set of twins who’d taken their seats behind them. They were tan as opposed to the almost colorless skin of the other, both seeming far more expressive with wide smiles as loud voices that made Eridan wince. At least they didn’t seem to be paying him any mind.

He closed his textbook and slipped it into his bag, hooking his finger under the cuff of his sleeve and easing it up to bare the black marks he’d spent most of his life staring at. His forearm was almost entirely covered in the thin black lines telling the story of the person he was destined for.

Centered at his wrist was a blocky heart surrounded by what looked like two small insects. A wide rectangle encased it, the keyboard beneath it the only reason Eridan could tell it was a computer. The square keys turned into hexagons as they swept up his arm, forming a block of hexagons with a few bees crawling from them with others flying freely. Pairs of cords wove through the honeycomb, wrapping around his arm and tying it to the computer. The space between the winding cords was filled with tiny images that didn’t seem to tie in. The skull of some strange creature with a fedora sitting atop it, a cuttlefish surrounded by bubbles, a very angry looking crab standing on a stack of books. These had appeared in bits and pieces since Eridan was thirteen, first the heart, then the bees and the rest slowly coming together. It had been almost two years since anything new had shown up, but a little over two months ago he’d felt a sharp pain in his arm.

He’d been swimming at the time, the rec center pool area empty aside from another member of the competitive swim team who was timing him. The pain shocked him, and he took in a lungful of water in his surprise, thrashing to drag himself from the water while violently coughing. He felt hands helping him, thumping against his back as soon as he was out until he was breathing again.

Clutching his arm to his chest, he’d ripped off his goggles with his free hand and stood, stumbling to the bleachers with his chest still burning. A towel was shoved into his face, along with a bottle of water and his glasses. He’d blinked, looking up at the other. She was an olive blooded troll who’d moved to Earth during Eridan’s first year here, sitting beside him in his biology lecture and introducing herself with a wide smile as Aphina Nikola. When Eridan had mentioned joining the team, she’d seemed shocked at how many humans swam for fun, telling him stories about the turbulent and danger filled oceans of Alternia and, after a few weeks, asking if he could teach her how to swim. She’d caught on quickly and by the next year she was an official member of the team.

“Well, your time was great until you decided to test if you’d suddenly grown gills,” she remarked, her voice too light for Eridan to even be irritated. “What happened, Danny?”

He had rolled his eyes and glanced at his still aching arm, frowning at the new mass of black lines. It usually didn’t hurt this bad, though maybe that was just because this was bigger than what typically appeared at one time. Tendrils massed around his arm, weaving into the honeycomb, and sprouting from some object just below his elbow. It was sleek and spine-covered, but like the rest of the mark it was the barest linework with no color, detail, or depth. He squinted at it, barely noticing that Aphina was leaning down to look at it until she stumbled back.

“What the- Phin? What’s wrong?”

She stared at his arm, mouth opening and closing for a moment. “Th-th-th-that’s-s-s- “She had taken a deep breath and finally met his eyes. “That’s an Imperial ship! Or it sure looks a hell of a lot like one. I haven’t seen one since- “

Sometimes Eridan forgot that she was older than him, that she’d been old enough during the rebellion to remember it. He’d covered the mark with the towel. “Sorry, Phin. I didn’t think- I don’t know what- “

She had insisted it was fine, but seemed relieved to end practice early, giving Eridan a quick hug when her morail arrived to walk her home.

Eridan had spent the next week staring at the new mark and coming to only one conclusion. His soulmate was probably on Alternia, if this was only appearing now, and he wasn’t going to get any answers about why a ship of the former Empress was on his arm.

His dad had been supportive, though he did make Eridan promise to visit at some point. He’d seemed confused, especially when-

“This place is the shit! Reminds me of Dad’s private jet,” made Eridan jump nearly out of his seat, yanking down his sleeve and glaring at his brother.

Cronus grinned at him, suddenly looking past him and reaching across him to tap on the window beside Eridan. “Whoa, check it out, Dan.”

Unlike almost everyone Eridan knew, Cronus didn’t wear long sleeves unless it was cool enough to justify his ridiculous leather jacket, leaving his tattoo bare to the world. He never seemed to care, shrugging it Eridan asked about it, but he was almost sure that the other was hoping his soulmate would recognize themselves on his arm. The largest part of his was the cat leaping from an open laptop, it’s tail turning to winding strands of DNA that swirled around his arm until it curled to hold a martini glass that was tipped over on the inside of his elbow. At several places along his arm were things that looked like windows, the trailing end of a scarf wrapped around the cat’s neck weaving in and out of them as though they were portals. In between the woven bits were tiny images, probably representing people they were close to. Two pairs of roses in a cracked vase, a jack-in-the-box with a cupcake at the end of the spring, a gun firing a banner that looked suspiciously like a movie poster.

Eridan shoved the arm out of his fun and rolled his eyes before looking at the window. For most of the journey, a metal shield had covered the glass though it had lifted once they exited deep space. He peered out the window, his eyes going wide at the sight.

He’d seen photos of Alternia, of course, but nothing could compare to the real thing. Sitting among the emptiness of space was a dark planet, the bright pink and green of its moons almost glowing against the blackness that surrounded them. He could see the blinking lights of other ships, dots of light shining from the surface of the planet itself. It was amazing and almost overwhelming, realizing this would be his home for at the very least the next few months.

“ **Preparing to land. Please fasten your seatbelts.** ”

Eridan was quick to buckle his, his fingers kneading the soft yarn of his scarf as a shudder made the metal of the ship groan. The planet was growing closer very quickly, the clouds now passing the ship and leaving them just above a busy port. He took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut until the ship finally stilled.

There was a hissing noise as the door of the ship opened, the captain appearing from the front to grin at them. She took her helmet off, her eyes bright and two solid colors, one blue and the other pure white. Pressing a finger to her ear, she spoke and her voice echoed in the speakers.

“ **Remove your bags from the overhead compartments and exit the ship in an orderly fashion, please. Your escorts to the University will show you where to pick up your luggage and answer any questions you may have. I hope you enjoy your time here and welcome to Alternia!** ”

Eridan stood carefully, slinging his bag over his shoulder and waiting for a few minutes of awkward shuffling before stepping into the aisle after Cronus. A flash of color caught his eye, making him pause. A lavender scarf, hanging from the arm of the seat across from his own. It wasn’t too hard to guess who it belonged to and he sighed before grabbing it and hurrying after his brother. Through the door and a narrow hall was a huge building fairly similar to a human airport, the glass ceiling allowing a perfect view of the colorful moons and the many ships floating through the air.

The group of about twenty students was immediately spotted by a group of five trolls wearing Skaia University shirts, who waved them over. One of them stepped forward, standing a few inches shorter than the others with a bright red shirt under the university one. His horns were short and blunt, barely sticking out from his neatly combed hair.

“Good morning,” he greeted them, not giving them any time to return it before he introduced himself as Kankri Vantas and launched into a long speech welcoming them and explaining the itinerary for the remainder of the day. They would be retrieving their luggage before heading to campus, where they would take a tour that ended in the cafeteria to eat. Eridan barely made it a few minutes before tuning it out.

A bit of blonde in the corner of his eye reminded him of the material in his hand and he decided he might as well return it now. She stood at the edge of the students, her arms crossed as she spoke to Shades. Eridan tapped her shoulder once he reached her, or well he reached out to do so and she turned to face him before he could try to get her attention. He jumped a little, stepping back as her eyebrow raised.

“Yes?”

“I, uh,” he cleared his throat and held up the scarf. “You left your scarf on the seat. I thought you might want it back.”

“Ah, oh yes thank you.” She took it and tucked it into her bag. “Mother wouldn’t have been happy if I’d lost her going-away present.”

“She’d probably just send you like a dozen of them,” drawled Shades, his hands in his pockets. “You’ll be drowning in a pile of warm and cozy scarves, missin all your classes because it’s just too damn comfortable. Who made it legal for scarves to be that soft? That kinda comfort just can’t be handled properly by the average Joe.”

Eridan blinked, glancing from him back to his sister. She sighed. “Thank you for the commentary, Dave.” Turning back to Eridan, she held out a hand. “My name is Rose. Thank you for returning my scarf. This is my twin brother.”

“I figured as much,” Eridan shrugged, shaking her hand. “I’m Eridan. What’s your major?”

“Psychology,” Rose replied as Dave chimed in, “Photography.” “And yours?”

“Doubling in Earth and Alternian History,” he said proudly, a smirk on his lips.

“Interesting. Well I suppose there’s no better place to study Alternian History than Alternia itself.” She paused, frowning slightly. “I would love to continue this at some point, but I’m afraid it seems we’re out of time at the moment.”

Eridan glanced back, but Kankri still seemed to be talking.

“…as I’m sure you’re aware, our school has three dorms. Derse, Prospit and Beforus. You will be staying in Beforus, your roommate will be a current student of the University who will help you around campus…”

He tuned it out again. “What do you mean?”

She said nothing, but soon Eridan could hear someone running towards them.

“ROSE! DAVE!”

A blonde woman threw herself from the crowd, wrapping her arms around the twins and hugging them tightly. Eridan stumbled back, tense and staring at her, as were most of the students. Kankri paused his speech, his brow furrowing.

“Roxy. Please do not tackle our new students, we do not need them being scared off. And you are late. I am sorry if I was unclear about what time we were to meet but it is quite jarring when there are members of the welcoming committee missing. Speaking of which, where is-“

“Kanny, please,” she huffed, stepping back, “I gotta give the sibs some hugs. Dirk’s right here.”

Ignoring his attempts at a lecture, she turned to Eridan. “Sorry I almost knocked you over,” she grinned, sticking out her hand. “I haven’t seen them in forever.” She was taller than him, though that wasn’t surprising, her hair curled slightly on the ends with the tips dyed pink. A cat clip kept her bangs out of her face, her university shirt over a pink long sleeve.

“Er…It’s alright. I’m Eridan.” He shook her hand, her energy a little overbearing. She glanced behind him and when an elbow was balanced on his head he knew it was Cronus.

He ducked away, turning to glare at him when he noticed the way his brother was fidgeting. He introduced himself to Roxy, keeping his marked arm pressed to his side as he shook her hand. As soon as she turned back to her siblings, he glanced at Eridan.

“What’s up with you?”

Cronus glared at him and almost said something, but cut himself off as everyone began moving.

Getting their luggage took longer than Eridan thought it should, but he was probably just impatient. He was on a new planet, damnit, he wanted to get out of the building and look around. Once he had his suitcases rolling behind him, he was ready to get moving.

Cronus made him stop so he could open his guitar case and inspect the instrument, laughing at Eridan’s eagerness to get to campus.

“It’ll still be there in an hour,” he chuckled, only earning a glare.

“Yeah, but I’d rather get there so we can get this tour out of the way. I’ll be surprised if we can even get done by the end of the day if that asshole keeps ranting during the whole thing.”

“End of the night, ya mean?” Cronus corrected him, smirking when Eridan turned on his heel and started walking away.

Luckily, the ride to the campus wasn’t too terribly long and when Eridan got out he took a deep breath. The buildings were a little strangely shaped, but it made the school look somewhat whimsical. A few large white beasts, lusii, lumbered across the grounds, many students pausing to glance at the new group. Eridan held his head high as the tour began, unwilling to look as nervous as he felt. It was the first day, he couldn’t be homesick already.

He followed the group down the winding stone path, watching Dave snap pictures of the scenery and only paying attention when he saw the recreation center. A large pool shone in the moonlight, the water rippling slightly as someone dove in. As soon as he had some free time, he was checking that out.

The cafeteria was huge, tables sprawling both inside and on the expansive patios. The food looked familiar, though the names were odd and some colors looked off but Eridan picked up a plate of some type of fish and sat down near Rose and Dave. Roxy plopped down beside them, a man in pointed shades following taking the seat beside her. Cronus sat next to Eridan, quickly pulling Roxy into a conversation. He seemed to be over whatever nerves had gotten to him earlier, throwing out a pick-up line cheesy enough to make Eridan choke on his food and glare at him.

“Seriously, Cro? Some of us are tryin to eat,” he huffed, though Roxy seemed to think it was amusing.

Luckily it wasn’t long before they were led to the dorms, checking in and getting their keys before they were finally released.

Eridan glanced at the envelope that held his keys. Room 311. Great. At least they had an elevator.

He stepped into the lift and pushed the button, glad his suitcases had been brought to his room while they were on the tour. At least he wasn’t having to lug it around now.

He reached the door, taking a deep breath before unlocking it. The room was wide, a bed on either side though one side has a recupracoon tucked between the foot of the bed and the wall. Exactly half of the room was covered in movie posters, books stacked in the windowsill and on the desk with a mass of papers scattered on that side’s desk.

Eridan could see his suitcases stacked on the other bed and briefly wondered where his roommate was before the bathroom door opened and a tired looking troll who was probably an inch taller than him stepped out. His horns looked almost exactly like Kankri’s, though his hair was far messier and he was wearing a thick sweater. He jumped when he saw Eridan, but glared at him almost immediately.

“So, I guess you’re my blockmate then?” His voice was entirely too loud and sounded hoarse, as though he yelled all the time. Eridan winced, putting a hand on his hip.

“Yeah? Names Eridan Ampora.”

“Karkat Vantas-“ he cut off when a loud knocking echoed from the bathroom. With a heavy sigh, he stormed into the room and unlocked the door on the far side.

Eridan stepped after him, a bit curious to see his suitemates. Karkat was glaring at the door as it opened, his arms tightly crossed. “Are you fucking happy now? You couldn’t wait even a minute? I was busy being fucking shocked by someone coming into my room so excuse the fuck out of me-“

“You knew they were getting here today, KK,” someone snickered from the other room. Eridan peeked around Karkat a bit more and caught sight of a much taller troll.

Mismatched eyes met green ones and Eridan froze, feeling heat creep into his cheeks. The other was a little over a head taller than him, his horns making him seem taller. There were two sets of them, sticking almost straight up from his messy hair. Red and blue glasses had slipped to the tip of his thin nose, his eyes pure color like the captains had been but in the same color as his glasses. He smirked, revealing crooked teeth and a crooked smile that Eridan somehow found endearing. That is, however, until he opened his mouth.

“Aw, look, KK, he’th even shorter than you.”

“Excuse you?” Eridan blurted, his cheeks going bright red and probably making his freckles even more prominent. “I am not short! I am a perfectly average height!” Almost. “It’s not my fault you’re freakishly tall!”

The other only laughed, the crooked grin now making Eridan seethe. “Thorry, but anyone shorter than KK ith, like, minithcule. I don’t make the ruleth.”

“What the fuck? He’s like an inch taller than me!”

“Tho?”

“So, it’s basically the same!”

“Not by a long shot, shrimp,” he said, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

“Don’t fuckin laugh at me,” Eridan spat at him. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Tholluxth Captor,” he replied, still snickering. The sound of a door opening made him glance back into his room. “Hey.”

“Sup.” A familiar face appeared in the doorway. “What’s goin on?”

“KK’th roommate ith short ath fuck and won’t admit it,” Sollux said with a quick, smug glance at Eridan.

“KK?” Dave glanced from Eridan to Karkat.

“My name is Karkat,” the other growled, rolling his eyes. “All of my ‘friends’ are just too incompetent to use someone’s actual fucking name for once in their lives.”

Eridan glared at Sollux one last time before storming back into the room. He’d already been introduced to Shades- Dave, after all. He angrily began to unpack, well as angrily as he could without making a total mess of his things.

His roommate seemed okay, if loud, but Sollux seemed like nothing more than an insufferable asshole. Eridan would have been perfectly civil if he hadn’t been provoked. He knew he had a short fuse, but damnit he was justified in getting angry this time!

He shoved his face into his pillow as soon as he was done unpacking, screaming into the fluff. Karkat seemed to have disappeared into the other room, leaving Eridan to curl under his comforter and fume.

He rubbed his soul mark, taking a deep breath and hoping for two things.

One: that he would find his soulmate soon and

Two: that he would never have to deal with Sollux again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: for blood in this chapter. It's just a small mention, but I thought I'd warn just in case

The light of the moons glinted off the grass, pink and green reflected in the windows of the campus. Eridan let the door of his dorm building fall shut, pausing to stare at the moons that had only just peeked over the horizon. The sky beyond them was still tinted red at the edges but mostly black with blooming streaks of blue and purple. Stars strained against the dying daylight and the bright lights of ships and buildings and life.

He remembered sitting on the deck of a boat, the smell of salt and sea burning his nose as his father pointed out the lines drawn between the stars, charts of constellations and names spread on the deck. He’d spent ages learning every inch of those maps, memorizing every constellation he could. In this sky, he couldn’t find a single one.

Eridan ripped his eyes from the sky, pulling his jacket tight around himself and holding his head high as though his stomach didn’t hurt. It didn’t matter that no one was around to see him, that no one would question it if he kept his head down. He wasn’t trying to show _them_ he was strong enough for this.

Insects chirped in the early evening air, a large bird cooing from the branches of a teal tree whose branches stretched out over the sidewalk and littered the area with pink leaves. The crunch of dried foliage under his shoes made it almost familiar. Almost.

He shook his head, grateful that the campus was almost empty. Classes had yet to start, so most students seemed to be taking advantage of the chance to sleep in. Eridan might have been one of those students if not for the restless anxiety that made his fingers twitch and barely let him close his eyes, much less sleep.

With a forcefully deep breath, he tucked a lock of ginger curls behind his ear, the hair soft and product free for once. There was no point in styling it to work out after all.

The rec center was further than he like, but the walk certainly helped to calm the nervous energy. The quiet of the building washed over him as he stepped inside, his footsteps echoing off the tile. A bulletin board by the desk was littered with flyers for everything from sporting events (what even was Arena Stickball) to student organizations. They were typed in a variety of colors, the fonts and typing quirks making some of them harder to read than others. Eridan briefly looked for anything about a swim team but decided to look into it more later.

The desk was bulky and littered with stacks of flyers and pamphlets, the woman sitting behind it looking decidedly done with it all. Her long hair and pulled into a messy bun, her horns curled and ram like. There was a maroon symbol stitched onto her uniform shirt, the metal nametag that glinted in the florescent lights reading “Damara.” Red lips twitched into a smirk as he approached, and he cleared his throat.

“Where do I sign in?” He asked, barely managing to keep from stuttering. God, he hated his nerves.

She slid a clipboard toward him, handing him a pen. “You new student?” she asked, watching him sign in.

He slowly nodded. “Er…yeah?”

She looked him over. “You cute. You be fine.”

Heat flared in his cheeks, his eyes widening a little. “I- uh, thank you? Where’s the pool?”

She laughed, taking the clipboard back. “Down hall, on left. Good luck, pretty boy.”

Eridan flushed brighter, hurrying down the hall with a polite wave. The smell of the pool was heavy and comforting in the air as he neared the pool and locker rooms. He couldn’t see anyone at the pool through the window of the door, thankfully. Swimming was a comfort; social interaction was not.

He changed quickly and shoved his bag into a locker, only taking his towel and goggles with him. There was an excitement in the air now, anticipation for the water. To swim, to lose himself in the repetition of strokes and movement and breathing. Swimming would clear his head, would center him, would get him through the day. He threw open the door and-

It stopped when it was almost open, the impact of whatever it had hit enough to make him pause. The yelp that echoed through the pool room drew a curse from him as he scrambled inside to see the damage.

“I’m sorr- “Eridan began to apologize, his words drying in his throat as he realized this was probably the prettiest woman he’d ever seen.

She was a little taller than him, but he was used to that, her horns adding another foot onto that. Something about them looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Her hair was impressively long and curly, pulled back into a thick and barely contained ponytail by a pink scrunchie. Fins flared from her ears, the top tine swooping into an elegant curl at the tip and the membrane colored a deep fuchsia. Her hands were held over her face, though she lowered them after a moment to look at him. Pink goggles almost obscured her eyes, the pupils of them thin slits with irises that matched her fins. Fuchsia colored the skin of her nose and after a moment a drop of wine colored blood fell onto her open palm. 

Eridan was speechless for a moment, certain of two things.

She was definitely the prettiest woman he’d ever met and he was pretty sure he had broken her nose.

“Shit!” he exclaimed as soon as his voice was back, the blood finally snapping him out of it. “Ah- damnit. I am so sorry. I, uh, I’ll get a first aid kit just uh-“ he cut off, stumbling back down the hall.

Damara raised an eyebrow at him, a lit cigarette now in her mouth. She blew a smoke ring at him when he asked for the first aid kit, shoving an ice pack into his hand and pointing him towards a small white box. He grabbed the box and tried not to look as though he had sprinted the whole way when he stepped back into the room.

The other gladly took the ice pack, holding it to her nose and flashing him a sharp toothed smile.

“It’s _fin_ ,” she assured him, holding the ice in place for another minute before setting it beside her. “Accidents happen. I’m _shore_ you didn’t mean to! It’d be _shelly_ to be mad at you.”

Eridan paused. “I uh…w-was that a fuckin fish pun?”

She blinked, then grinned widely at him. “And if it was?”

“Ugh, puns are the low-west form of comedy,” he grumbled, tensing when he realized that not only was he stuttering, but he was insulting her. “Not that they’re necessarily bad, I mean-“

He was cut off by her laughter. “ _Whale_ , someone’s grumpy,” she teased, but her smile was still bright. “I’m Feferi, by the _wave_!”

Eridan was caught off guard by her cheerfulness, watching the way her fins flapped as she laughed. It was a few seconds before he realized he was staring, red flaring in his cheeks as he finally shook her hand. “I’m Eridan.”

Feferi paused, glancing at his arm. For a moment, she thought she was studying his soul mark, but that was on his right arm. His eyebrows furrowed, “Uh, could I get my hand back?”

She jumped and dropped his hand. “Oh _shorey_! I was just looking at your arm!”

“Yeah, I saw that. What was so interestin?”

“All those little dots! They look kinda like seadweller light spots, but you can see them all the time!”

Eridan slowly blinked and looked at his arm. “My…freckles?” The back of his arms and his shoulders were covered with them, though he never thought about them much.

“Oh- that’s what they’re called! Thanks! _Shorey_ for staring. I don’t _reely_ , uh-“

“Talk to humans much?”

She chuckled, her fins folding down against her hair. “Is it that _obvifish_? I’m not trying to be rude, I promise!”

He held up his hands. “No, no I understand. I um…I haven’t talked to many seadwellers. Your fins are really interesting-“ he blurted the last part.

Feferi tilted her head, said fins flicking slightly. “ _Reely_? _Whale_ thank you! Wow, things got kinda _orcaward_ there. You came here to swim, didn’t you?”

Eridan remembered they were standing next a pool and nodded a little. “Were you leavin? I don’t wanna like run you off or somethin.”

She perked up a little. “I was actually _aboat_ to leave, but if you want a swimming partner I can stay.”

“Oh,” despite the awkwardness of their entire interaction, Eridan was drawn to her still. “If you’ve got somewhere to be-“

“No, it’s _fin_! I don’t have any plans or _anyfin_ until later!”

“I thought you were leavin when I got here?”

“That was…” she paused. “It was _nofin_! It’s just more fun to swim with _fronds_!”

Eridan stopped for a moment before deciding not to push the matter. They’d just met after all. She didn’t owe him an explanation.

“Yeah.” He moved his towel to a bench and set his glasses on top of it. His goggles were prescription, so his vision was only blurred until he put them on. The sound of someone diving into the pool made him turn, the figure seeming to swim along the bottom of the fairly deep pool. Panic caught his breath when she didn’t surface for air, until he caught sight of the pink lines on her neck. Gills? She was a seadweller after all.

He shook off the worry and dove in, staying closer to the surface of the pool. After a few laps, a hand wrapped around his ankle. Forgetting everything in his panic, he kicked wildly until he thought to look down. Feferi let him go, surfacing beside him with high pitched giggles.

“That wasn’t funny!” he snapped before he could stop himself. Why did he keep snapping at her? Why wasn’t she snapping back?

Waving off his short temper, she flapped her fins at him. “Don’t you mean _finny_?”

“I can assure you I do not.”

“ _Naut_.”

“Fef I sw-wear to god-“

“ _Cod!_ ”

At that point, neither of them could keep from laughing. Eridan tried to hold it back, the sound hissing out through his teeth until his chest hurt too much to keep from snorting with laughter. Of course, that only made both of them laugh harder, clinging to the side of the pool. When his stomach hurt with laughter that was finally dying out, he realized that he hadn’t laughed that hard in a long while.

“ _Shorey_. I didn’t mean to scare you, _Erifin_ ,” she said through the last of her giggles.

He raised an eyebrow at the nickname and immediately regretted it when her face fell.

“Oh, is it _okray_ if I call you that?”

Eridan was quiet for a moment before letting himself smirk. “It’s absolutely _fintastic_.”

There was a beat before her face lit up, a wide grin showing off her shark like teeth. It made something warm in Eridan’s chest flare up. He wanted to make her smile like that again.

“Great! I was just going to ask what you were doing after this.”

He blinked, trying not to read to much into this. She was just being nice.

“Nothin. Why?”

“ _Whale_ , I’m meeting a _frond_ for coffee after this and I wanted to invite you to come with!”

See, just being friendly.

“Um…sure. Or should I say _shore_?”

She pulled herself out of the pool and reached out a hand to help him. “Yes, you absolutely should! For it being the ‘lowest form of comedy’ you’re pretty good at it.”

He grabbed his towel and put his glasses back on, flushing. “Well, even low-level shit can be entertainin sometimes.”

“Oh, you are so full of _carp_!” she said through a laugh. “I’ll meet you at the front desk!”

Eridan nodded, returning to the locker room to get dressed. He took a moment to stare at his soul mark, frowning. Nothing seemed to fit, but the warmth in his chest wasn’t leaving anytime soon. It was different than other crushes he’d had, so it had to mean something. Didn’t it?

Sighing, he pulled his jacket on and dried his hair as much as he could before walking towards the front. Feferi was leaning on the desk, chattering excitedly with Damara, who seemed amused. When Eridan approached, Damara mumbled something to Feferi that made her cheeks flare pink.

“Oh, you’re _terribubble_!” Feferi huffed, though she was still smiling.

Before Eridan could question it, she locked elbows with him and marched outside. The first minute was silent, but Eridan let his curiosity get the better of him.

“If you weren’t meeting with your friend until now, why were you leaving so early?” he said without really thinking.

She frowned and he almost told her to forget it until she looked at the ground. She looked like she wanted to get it off her chest but…

“You can tell me, “ he blurted. “I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

A flush colored her cheeks, which Eridan didn’t quite understand, but she nodded a little. “I- okay. I was going to leave because I heard someone in the locker room and figured they were coming to the pool.”

“…you were going to leave because someone else showed up?”

She kept her eyes down. “I didn’t know who it was. It could have been someone…not so nice.”

“Not so nice?”

“… _whale_ I can’t exactly blame them. She was horrible.”

“Who?”

Feferi waited a few steps. “My ancestor.”

It took Eridan a long moment to realize why those horns, that color, were so familiar. The image of the Empress from his textbook flashed in his mind.

“The Condesce? She’s your…”

Her eyes widened and something like fear shone in them. “You didn’t realize?” Her voice sounded a little thick and it made Eridan’s chest hurt.

“No. You’re just…so nice. It’s a little hard to picture.” He felt like he should say something more. “But…does it really matter? You can’t pick who you’re related to.”

Feferi stopped and stared at him, tears pricking in her eyes. Eridan was scared he’d said something wrong until she wrapped her arms around him.

“Thank you…sorry for dumping that on you. You’re just…easy to talk to. I guess.”

The warm feeling was getting harder to ignore. It was something…protective and Eridan had no clue what it could be. He thought to his soul mark again…and before he could stop himself…

“What do you think of bees?”

Feferi seemed ten kinds of confused, her brow furrowing. “What?”

Eridan paled, somewhere between mortified and disappointed. Alright, so that answered that question.

“Nevermind. It doesn’t bother me. If you want to talk about…whatever you can,” he searched in his bag for a paper scrap and a pencil, “just message me.” He handed her the paper, his pesterchum handle scrawled onto it. “My door’s always open.” Even if she wasn’t his soulmate he felt…something.

She looked down at the paper with a little smile on her face before putting it into her cuttlefish shaped backpack. “Thank you, _Erifin_. I’ll be _shore_ to _glub_ with you.”

The smell of coffee hit him as they neared a small café on the edge of campus, the night having gotten late enough for more students to be milling about. He stepped forward and opened the door for Feferi, meeting her grin with one of his own.

She practically bounced to the register, resting her hands on the counter and grinning at the barista. Eridan frowned at the how familiar they looked until they looked at him.

“Hey, Eri! Nice to see ya again!”

“Good mornin, Roxy,” he replied, his eyes flicking to the menu. “Could I get a…just a caramel latte. And whatever Fef wants.”

Feferi paused and looked at him. “You _shore_?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. My treat.”

She gave him a quick hug before studying the menu. “I’ll have…a sea salt caramel mocha frappe!”

Eridan raised an eyebrow. “ _Sea_ salt?”

“Oh, hush.”

“He ain’t wrong, Feffy. You get that every time.”

“If you want FF to try anything new, you have to give it an othean themed name.”

The familiar voice made Eridan stiffen while Feferi perked up. “Hey, _Shoallux_!”

As she jumped to hug the new arrival, Eridan swiped his card and squared his shoulders. The grating voice reached him again, just as the coffees were handed to him.

“Who’th your new friend, FF?”

Eridan finally turned around, trying to ignore him and just give Feferi her coffee.

“This is _Erifin_! I found him at the pool,” she chirped, sipping at her coffee.

He shot a glare at Sollux, the smug smirk only making him more irritated. “Of courthe, the shrimp wath at the pool.”

“Oh, ha ha,” Eridan spat at him. “Yeah, I’m short, but at least I can say my own name.”

Sollux’s eye twitched, the first reaction Eridan had been able to get from him and it filled him with fierce glee. He’d admit it might be a low blow, but like hell was he going to let this asshole push him around.

“Fuck you, Ampora.”

“Oh, real creative, _Tholluxth_. Let me guess, you only had one bit. Kinda disappointin, honestly. Makin fun of my height gets old by like the third joke. And I’ve heard em all before. Get some new material.”

Sollux’s lip was curling up, baring his crooked fangs. “You’re even more annoying than you look. At leatht I don’t dreth like a pretentiouth hipthter wannabe.”

“I do not-“

“You’re wearing a thilk thcarf.”

“It’s called having style! Though I suppose you wouldn’t know what that means. How many times have you worn that shirt this week? Two? Three?”

“You know each _otter_?”

Eridan realized with a start that Feferi was still there, flushing and looking at her. “Yeah. He’s my suitemate. He decided to be rude when-“

“Oh, ath if. It’th not my fault you can’t take a joke.”

“It’s not my fault you ain’t funny,” Eridan shot back, rolling his eyes. He glanced at Feferi, who looked somewhere between confused and concerned. “Fef, I’m gonna head back to my dorm. Do you want to meet at the pool again sometime?”

Her eyes brightened and she nodded. “I’ll message you, okay?”

He nodded, shooting a final glare at Sollux before he swept out of the café. About halfway to his dorm, he realized something with a glance to her arm.

The cuttlefish on his arm…looked exactly like Feferi’s bag. Was his soulmate a friend of hers? He ran a finger over the lines of the mark, frowning as he got to his dorm room. Perhaps he’d ask her next time he saw her.

And maybe he’d talk to her about that warmth in his chest he still didn’t have a name for.

Karkat was curled in front of a laptop, watching a movie intently. When Eridan walked in, he paused it and glanced up. “Where the fuck have you been?”

“At the pool and the café,” he shrugged. “Ran into Captor again.”

“He’s not actually as big of an asshole as you make him out to be.”

“Yeah, he fuckin is. But I’m not even really annoyed at him right now.” He flopped onto his bed, sighing and trying to figure things out.

“…something wrong?”

For someone so grumpy, how did he manage to sound so concerned?

“Met someone.”

“Soulmate?”

“Does my arm look filled in?”

“I can’t exactly see it, dumbass.”

“…point taken.”

He glanced at Karkat, who was staring at him with an expression of curiosity and invitation that made Eridan want to tell him.

So, tell he did. Of course, he didn’t even get halfway through the story before Karkat dragged him to his desk, searching through his movies until he declared one perfect.

“This one is almost overly simple and the kismeisis pairing is atrocious but it’s pretty fucking spot on for what you need to learn about.”

“And what exactly do I need to learn about?”

Karkat looked completely done with him already, taking a deep breath.

“Moraillgence.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry this took so long!   
> TW: for mentions of injury in this chapter!

“And he _breams_ so nice!” Feferi sighed almost dreamily, her perfectly manicured claws tapping against her cup, the whipped cream that had been artfully piled high over the rim now mostly gone or clinging to the tip of her nose. A thick curl sprung free from her ponytail, flopping into her eyes. She glared at it through her glasses, which looked almost exactly like her goggles, and brushed it to the side.

“Nithe? Are you thure we’re talking about the thame guy?” Sollux snickered, taking a sip from his own drink. He wasn’t a big coffee drinker, his filled with sugar and syrup to cover the bitter taste.

“Oh, hush!” She huffed. “Just because you don’t get along with him doesn’t mean he isn’t nice! He’s _baiter_ at listening than you for _shore_!”

“Woah, FF,” he teased. “Could you be any paler for the guy?” He took another long drink before raising an eyebrow at her. “Would he even do quadrantth? I thought humanth only had one kinda romanthe. KK wath complaining about it.”

“I’m not pale for him!” she squeaked, her fins flushing and flaring out, flicking slightly in a way that completely contradicted everything she just said. “And even if I was, some humans do!” She glared at him halfheartedly, taking another drink of her coffee. “As if you’re one to talk any _wave_!”

Sollux frowned at her, his glasses slipping to the end of his nose. “What are you talking about, FF?”

“ _Whale_ , it _breams_ to me that someone is waxing pitch for a certain human,” she smirked, waggling her eyebrows.

The Captor choked on his current sip of coffee, coughing to clear his windpipe before staring at her with wide eyes. “What the fuck? I’m not black for him!”

“Methinks you protest too much,” she teased, her smirk turning to a sharp-toothed grin.  “You can be honest with me, _Shoallux_!”

“I’m not! He’th jutht annoying ith all!” He insisted, his lip curling into a halfhearted snarl. Though it was true that part of him was drawn to the human, amused by their spats, it wasn’t any sort of crush. That would be absolutely ridiculous, especially considering they’d only had two conversations. “Don’t worry, FF. I’m not flirting with your palecrush.”

Her fins flared and flushed again. “I do not have a palecrush!”

Sollux laughed a little, finishing his coffee and setting his cup on the table. Feferi rolled her eyes and pouted for a moment, though her expression fell slightly as the seconds ticked by.

She stared into her cup for a minute before forcing the words out. “How’s Tunafish?”

Sollux tensed, thinking to the last time he’d seen his…brother. Human terms were easiest sometimes.

He’d been curled on a healing platform after a week in a recupracoon, bandages covering most of his head and arms. Though their family bloodline was always pretty scrawny he looked absolutely pathetic, drowning in the thin sheets and medical gown. His eyes had lost their glow, not a single spark of psionics making an appearance.

“He’th…recovering. Our anthethtor ithn’t thure if hith pthionicth are going to come back but at leatht he’th talking again.”

Her face looked pained. “Does he remember anything?”

Shaking his head, Sollux grimaced at his empty cup. “Ath far ath we can tell, he can’t remember anything after he dithappeared and he freakth out pretty badly when he trieth to.”

“ _Whale_ , I hope he gets _baiter_. Kurloz is with him, right?”

“Yeah. Tho ith Meenah, but I think she’th mothtly trying to convinthe Thignleth to let her help fight.”

“Yeah. Are they any closer to finding them?”

“No. Apparently thethe athholeth are really good at hiding. I don’t know how the fuck they’re hiding an Imperial ship though. Mutht have enough power to keep the cloaking on.”

Feferi paused for another long minute. “The ship…was it…”

“It wathn’t the flagship,” Sollux assured her, watching her let out a sigh of relief. “And we’ll find them. At leatht we know they can’t get off planet.”

“Not without a helmsman,” she murmured.

“Yeah and Mituna’th too well protected now.”

“What about you?”

Sollux frowned, his brow furrowing as he studied her worried expression. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t have to come back…isn’t it more dangerous here?”

“What wath I thuppothed to do? Leave you and KK here? Not to mention everyone elthe.”

“But none of us are psions-“

“Tho what? We’re all dethendantth of the Counthil memberth. Bethideth, I hate the Capital. People are even weirder about me being a thucthethor. At leatht here I’m jutht ‘that one tech athhole.’”

She sighed, leaning back. “I guess. It’s just…it’s kinda scary I guess.”

“We jutht have to thtick together. For ath weird ath humanth are, their whole ‘family’ thing maketh a lot of thenthe.”

With a small smile, she finished her coffee, though the atmosphere still felt heavy. Sollux grasped for a subject change.

“Tho…have you had any luck wooing AA?”

Feferi’s face went pink, her fins flapping. “That’s not fair! You can’t just spring that on me!”

“That’th a no, then?”

She whined and pulled up her sleeve. There was a large lusus skull on her arm, the jaw hanging open with a specter emerging from the maw. A whip curled around her forearm, the outline of rocks and ruins following it with what looked like bits and pieces of puzzles scattered across it. Like with all the soul marks Sollux had seen, the spaces were filled with little pictures. There was a fluffy bee with a husktop hanging from its stubby legs, a robotic looking horse and two ones Sollux hadn’t seen before. The first was a set of scales with a cute dragon weighing down one side, the second a fairy sitting on a stack of cards. “These just got added last day!” Feferi chirped, pointing at the new bits. “Are you sure it’s her?”

Sollux glanced over the marks, tilting his head. “I know she wath getting to be pretty good friendth with thome people online. Maybe she finally met them? But I am abtholutely thure that’th her, FF. She’th been my betht friend practically thinthe we pupated!”

Feferi sighed and pulled her sleeve back down, standing and tossing her cup. Sollux followed suit, opening the door with a few sparks. She rolled her eyes, hooking her arm with his as they walked. “You don’t need to use your psionics for _everyfin_ ,” she teased before looking at the ground. “But…no I haven’t had any luck. I get so nervous when I talk to her!”

“Why?”

“She might be my soulmate, _Shoallux_! It’s nerve-wracking! Aren’t you nervous to meet yours?”

At that moment, Sollux realized Feferi had a grip on his right arm, rolling up the red sleeve and peering at his soulmark. He rolled his eyes but shrugged. “I gueth? I don’t really know if that’th going to happen though.”

At the crook of Sollux’s elbow there was an open book, darkness spreading from it’s pages. At a quick glance, it’d be easy to assume that it was a dead soulmark, though upon closer inspection the dots of empty space were clear. Sollux was pretty sure they were stars, the night sky turning to roiling waves. A school of seahorses chased each other around his arm, what looked like a wand crossing a rifle at his wrist. In a bit of empty space there was a seven-legged spider crawling out of a broken eight ball, though that was the only extra image. Sollux wondered if that was just because his soulmate wasn’t social, or if they were an asshole. He wondered what was on their arm.

A sharp pain made him wince, yanking his arm from Feferi’s grip as lines drew themselves into his skin. He watched in amazement as a cuttlefish appeared, swimming among the seahorses. Feferi stared at the new image, her mouth falling open.

“Is that a…cuttlefish?” she asked, her fins flicking curiously. She’d always been fascinated by his soulmark, the sealife on it catching her attention. “How long has it been since you got a new mark?”

“Almotht a thweep,” he mumbled, barely paying attention. The only cuttlefish related things he’d come across were with Feferi. Perhaps his soulmate was a seadweller? It wasn’t like he’d never considered that before. But why was this appearing now? He frowned, tugging down his sleeve and making a mental note to talk to Karkat later. He was the only one who knew much about this stuff, though much of his expertise came from hours upon hours of watching shitty romance movies.

Feferi studied his face before giving him a quick hug. “Don’t worry, _Shoallux_! You’ll find them!”

He let himself give her a small smile, shrugging the concern off. “I’m fine, FF. You know I really don’t give a shit about thith thoulmate thtuff.” That was a lie but the more pessimistic part of himself, that was most of him, was sure that he’d never find them. Or maybe he would, but they’d decide he was too much of an asshole and he’d watch the marks turn to a black void on his arm. He shook the thoughts away, walking Feferi to her dorm before turning and heading back to his own with a promise of meeting for coffee again tomorrow.

When he reached his dorm his head was beginning to ache, but that was normal. The migraines were a nightly occurrence, as annoying as they were. Dave was scrolling on his phone, his shades still firmly in place. The human hadn’t removed them once the entire he’d been here, not even to sleep, but Sollux didn’t have much room to talk. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone out without his colored lenses on.

The Strider looked at him, his face blank with the light of the phone glinting off of his shades. “Sup.”

Sollux gave a tiny wave of greeting before cutting through the bathroom and throwing open the door to Karkat’s dorm, as he’d been doing for the past week. The transfers roommates had been considered the ‘welcome team’, so they’d arrived early and spent the extra days listening to Kankri ramble about everything. He was just glad he’d ended up as KK’s suitemate. The other never seemed to care, so he figured he wouldn’t now as he pulled up his sleeve, looking over the fresh marks as he barged into the room.

“KK-“ he cut off when he realized that Karkat wasn’t the only person curled in front of his husktop. They seemed to have made a fort out of snuggleplanes and pillows, huddling under Karkat’s lofted sleeping platform and stretching out on their stomachs with the screen glowing in front of them. The Vantas seemed to be in the middle of an explanation, one hand chopping his palm as he propped himself on his elbows. Sollux knew he heard him though, his ears perking slightly before he turned to face him.

Eridan sat up, clutching the pillow he’d been laying on to his chest and looking over at him. His eyes brightened with recognition and his face immediately scrunched up, his shockingly bright green eyes narrowing as the dots that covered his face were pressed together. Sollux hated how cute he looked, especially when his lips pursed into a pout.

He shoved the thought from his mind, pointedly ignoring Eridan and striding across the room. “Am I interrupting?” he teased, leaning down and peering at the screen. “What are you watching anyway?”

“It’s not like you actually have the cinematic taste to appreciate it but I’m showing him ‘In Which a Blueblooded Archeradicator Meets a Rustblooded Archeologist and After Her Unexpected Death at The Hands of Her Former Matesprit’-“

Sollux cut him off with a laugh, rolling his eyes. “Are you kidding, KK? That trash?”

Karkat glared at him, baring his mostly blunt teeth. “Okay, what the fuck? I’ll admit that the main romance in this isn’t all that great, the vacillation is totally forced and obviously only there for ‘drama’ but it’s got the best representation of morails I’ve seen in sweeps! Honestly, they should have done the whole movie about them. I think the actors might have actually been pale.”

“And why are you so focuthed on morailth all of a thudden? Are you finally confething your undying palecrush on KN?” He smirked, showing off his horribly crooked fangs.

A bright red blush colored Karkat’s cheeks and a pillow came directly at Sollux’s face. A small cloud of sparks stopped it and shot it back at the Vantas. He fumbled to catch it, his scowl only deepening.

“That’s not fucking fair and you know it!” he complained, his claws kneading the fabric of the pillow. He was lucky his were fairly dull, mostly since it meant that his pillows didn’t get shredded every time he got stressed.

“It’th not my fault you can’t catch for shit,” he snickered, his eyes flicking over to Eridan and pausing when he saw the other staring at him. The pout had fallen from his face, replaced with something edging on awe. It made Sollux tense with something distinctly self-conscious, his instinctive reaction a defensive one. His eyes narrowed and his fangs bared, his hair lifting slightly with static as sparks ran up and down his horns. “What?”

Eridan only seemed to notice he was staring at that moment, a dark blush covering his face and making the spots on his skin stand out even more. He tilted his head down a little, loose copper curls falling into his face. “Nothing,” he said after a moment of hesitation, his eyes now focused on the wall behind him.

Sollux growled, a small noise of irritation in the back of his throat, the sound just a bit too deep for a human to register but enough for Karkat to raise an eyebrow at him. Sparks wrapped around the pillow in his arms and yanked it away, holding it just out of range and catching his attention. Eridan’s eyes immediately locked onto the pillow and he jumped up, narrowly avoiding hitting his head on the edge of the platform.

“Hey! That’s mine!” he said indignantly, reaching for it to no avail.

Sollux mused about how easy it was to keep it out of his reach, plucking it from the air and holding it above his own head. Eridan jumped for it, his fingers barely missing it. “And? What the fuck were you thtaring at?” he huffed, stepping back as Eridan tried a new strategy of trying to drag his arm down.

Finally, the other seemed to give up and crossed his arms. He actually stomped one foot in frustration, the sight somewhere between hilarious and adorable. “Well, excuse me for bein curious! I’m not the one walkin around with my soulmark out in the open!”

The Captor blinked and looked down, remembering that his sleeve was still rolled up. He scowled and yanked it down, glaring at Eridan. “And how ith that any of your buthineth?”

Pink once again colored the others face, even the tips of his ears turning red. It somehow made his eyes even brighter. “Like I said, I w-was curious!” He blinked and cursed under his breath, obviously irritated at his own stuttering.

“You w-were curiouth?” Sollux mocked, smirking a little. Usually he’d consider that a little below the belt, but the Ampora hadn’t seemed to have a problem making fun of his speech earlier.

“ _Yeth_ I was,” Eridan growled, the anger in his eyes almost satisfying. “The seahorses caught my eye is all! At least I know your soulmate has better taste than you.” He stuck out his hand, palm up. “Can I have my pillow back now?”

Said pillow was then flung maybe a tad too forcefully the couple of feet to him, hitting him squarely in the face and sending him stumbling back a couple steps and almost falling over. The fluffy square dropped into his arms, his glasses now askew and his face even redder than before with tears in the corners of his eyes. Sollux felt a bit of regret biting at him, though pissing him off was fun he didn’t actually want to hurt him.

…maybe there was something to FF’s pitch theory after all, not that he’d tell her that.

Before he could even think about apologizing, the other stormed past him and shoved a few things into a bag before heading for the door. “I’ll be back later, Kar,” he snipped as he went, opening the door.

Sollux huffed, looking back to Karkat. However, before he could say anything something soft hit him in the back of the head. He jumped and cursed, snatching whatever it was out of the air and looking behind him just as the door slammed. Looking down at what object in his hand, he realized with irritation and a barely contained laugh that it was a pillow.

Karkat was looking at him curiously as he dropped into the spot Eridan had vacated. “What the fuck was that?”

Of course, the only position Sollux could take on the matter was defensive. “What are you talking about?”

“You know perfectly well what I’m talking about, you blistering fuckwad,” he huffed, glaring at him. “Why are you such a supreme asshole to him? He hasn’t done a fucking thing to you!”

“What the fuck, KK? He wath an athhole firtht!”

“Yeah, because everyone always reacts so fucking well when the first words out of your mouth are a comment about their height. I’m surprised he didn’t try to punch you, not that he would have gotten fucking far.”

“Yeah well maybe he’th jutht fun to pith off,” Sollux snapped, glaring at the still paused screen of the other’s husktop.

Karkat was thankfully quiet for a moment before staring at Sollux. “Are you fucking black for him or something?”

“No!” Sollux said too quickly, cursing the flush that was coloring his cheeks.

“You totally are!” Karkat crowed, bursting into laughter. “You’re trying to court him pitch! That’s fucking hilarious. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have been showing him this useless film. The kismeisis couple here is so fucking one dimensional, not that anything would help him with your fucked-up flirting-“

“Shut the fuck up!” He snapped, sparks crackling in the air as he floated up and toward the door. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Forget thith, I’m out.”

“Hey- hey, wait,” Karkat said, scrambling to his feet. “I’m sorry, alright? I’ll fucking drop it. You came in here for a reason, right?”

Sollux took a deep breath, but if Karkat said he was dropping it the subject was probably successfully avoided for now. He turned back, plopping back onto the ground and holding out his marked arm. Karkat frowned at him before looking at it, eyes immediately finding the new piece to the puzzle.

“Is that a fucking cuttlefish?”

“No shit,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Of courthe it’th a cuttlefish.”

Karkat grumbled something, crossing his arms and leaning back. “…Maybe they know Feferi? I don’t fucking know. When did this show up?”

“Like half an hour ago, when I wath having coffee with FF.”

The other sighed and shrugged. “I honestly don’t know what to tell you. They still might be a seadweller, or maybe just someone who really likes the ocean.”

Sollux pulled his sleeve down, shrugging it off like he wasn’t disappointment that this hadn’t brought him any closer to finding them. “Have any luck with yours?”

Karkat huffed, rolling up the thick sleeve of his sweater. His mark was on his left arm, two swords clashing at the center of it. One was cracked halfway up the blade, the pieces shattering and turning into a flock of birds. In the background there was a city on a horizon, the shadows at the edges turning into stairs that wound around his arm. Cradled at the bottom of the stairs was a set of turntables, the bottom turning into a polaroid camera currently spitting out a picture of something in a jar. A pair of pointed glasses was cracked and mostly broken in one of the empty spaces, two pairs of intertwined flowers growing out of the cracks. The other empty spaces contained a rabbit wearing a magician’s hat, a large pawprint with some formula scrawled in the middle of it and a set of crossed knitting needles making something that looked like a horrorterror.

“As much as ever,” he grumbled, poking at the broken blade. “It’s going to drive me crazy. Like I know we’re going to meet at some point, but I kinda wish fate would hurry the fuck up.”

Sollux nodded slightly, leaning a back. After the silence became awkward, he sighed deeply. “Are you gonna finish your movie?”

Karkat gave him a tiny smirk. “Nah. Maybe I’ll put in a pitch flick. You need all the help you can get.”

He snarled a little but said nothing and simply rolled his eyes.

That seemed to be enough encouragement, as Karkat immediately began searching through his movies before clicking on one.

“What the fuck are we watching?” He grumbled, trying to sound more annoyed than he was.

“Fifty First Hate Dates.”

Sollux took a deep breath. This was going to be a long afternoon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to update I got caught up in a few other projects and this didn't have as strong of a plan, but I have figured things out!

Eridan realized as soon as he stepped out of the door to his dorm room that he had no clue where he was going. He’d already been to the rec center today, and though he could go again… he doubted his current jeans and baggy sweater were any kind of appropriate to work out in and there was no way he was about to go back for his gym bag.

He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, realizing with a grimace that it was brittle from chlorine and a complete mess. That would have to be alright for now, until he was sure Sollux wouldn’t be in his room. Not that he really knew how long Karkat and him would be talking, especially if he stuck around for a film or two.

A part of him wondered what Feferi was up to, his expression brightening as he realized he had her troll handle. He pulled out his phone and tapped on the application.

caligulasAquarium [CA] has added cuttlefishCuller [CC] to chumroll!

He paused after the message popped up, waiting for her to add him as well. It had been a few hours, but he couldn’t help but worry that he’d messaged her too early. A bit of panic rose in the back of his throat, catching him by surprise with a surge of self-doubt that clawed itself into his mind until his breathing sharpened. This was quicker than they normally happened, but perhaps he could blame that on stress. He gripped his phone tightly, squeezing his eyes shut and counting in his mind.

_Inhale_

_One_

_Two_

_Three_

_Exhale_

_One_

_Two_

_Three_

_Inhale_

_One_

_Two-_

**_Ping!_ **

The way he jumped made him choke on the breath, any tension the exercise had lessened coming back full force as his phone almost fell from his hands. He only wished that he’d been in his dorm when this had happened, or at least somewhere where he could shut himself into a bathroom until he could breathe like a normal person.

He hated this, torn between checking his phone and putting it off until his stomach didn’t feel like it was swallowing itself. Maybe he should’ve just gone back for his gym clothes. Even if a run or swim couldn’t fix this, it could help him focus enough to deal with it.

**_Ping!_ **

With a quick breath, he decided the anticipation was worse than anything that could be said here and tapped on the screen, even as his mind listed out increasingly worse possibilities.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] has added caligulasAquarium [CA] to chumroll!

He blinked, a bit of the quickly built anxiety fading at the cheerful little notification. He closed his eyes and took one deep breath, letting it out slowly and trying to let the lump in his throat fade with it. The shaking in his hands was already lessening, though the pain in his stomach was remaining its usual stubborn self.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began trolling [CA] caligulasAquarium

CC: -Erifin?

Eridan smiled a little to himself, focusing on the little punned version of his name. It was adorable and Feferi was nice and he very much wanted to be her friend, even if she wasn’t his soulmate. Perhaps that was why messaging her first had been so nerve wracking.

However, before he could reply to her, another chat box popped onto his screen. The name at the top was one he hadn’t seen in months and one that made him scowl. What did she want?

arachnidsGrip [AG] began pestering caligulasAquarium [CA]

AG: Heyyyyyyyy, Eridork.

AG: 8een a while, hasn’t it?

AG: Miss me much? :::;)

Not this bitch.

AG: How’s Alternia?

AG: I see you’re still just as pathetic as you were back on Earth.

AG: All alone under that little tree.

Eridan frowned, lifting his head and looking around.

CA: wwhere the fuck are you

AG: Is that any way to greet an old friend?

CA: it’s a good thin wwe ain’t friends then

AG: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, after all I’vve done for you?

AG: See, I even copied your stupid little quirk!

CA: you still havvent answwered my fuckin question

AG: Ugh, fine.

AG: Look up, dumbass.

He glanced up, his eyebrows furrowing as he spotted a figure in a tree across the path. She jumped down from the lowest branch, strutting over to him as though she owned the very ground she walked on and knowing her she probably thought exactly that.

She looked about the same as he remembered, just a bit taller than him with bleached blonde hair that she flipped over her shoulder with a smirk on her face. The tips were dyed blue and the dark roots of her hair were beginning to show through. Her bright blue eyes matched the ends of her hair, well… bright blue eye. When they had been in school together, she had kept one of the lenses in her glasses completely blacked out to hide the milky white of her blind eye though she had apparently stopped that. Her entire left arm was metallic, the prosthetic an example of how Alternian and human technology had come together.

“Heyyyyyyyy,” she grinned wickedly, drawing out the word as she did in text. Her metal arm waved at you, even the wave seeming somehow sarcastic. Eridan didn’t trust a word she said, his irritation enough to make him focus on her instead of either his phone or the still painful curling of his stomach.

“I didn’t know you were part a the program,” he said in a terse, but polite, voice.

“Oh,” she chuckled, making him sneer at her. “That’s cute, you think I’m part of your little group.”

“Oh, fuck off, Serket,” he grumbled. “If you’re not gonna tell me anythin just go back to not talkin to me.”

“You’re so rude, Eridumbass,” she huffed, slinging her arm over his shoulders and reminding him once again how short he was. “You’re lucky I’m a good enough friend to not care about that. Otherwise, you might lose the only person willing to put up with your dramatic ass.”

Eridan frowned, elbowing the other away from him. She simply laughed and patted his head, though she did step away from him.

“I see you finally took care of that annoying stutter,” she snipped at him, starting off their usual routine of insulting each other until someone finally brought up an actual fucking conversation.

“And I see you finally quit wearin those stupid glasses. Though somehow even with both lenses they’re still tacky, Serket. Or should I say, Nitram?”

She glared at him, making him smirk. “My name is Serket,” she hissed.

“Weren’t you the one who came in bragging about how ‘your mom married the ambassador to Alternia’?”

She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “Just because Simon’s cool doesn’t mean I want to be associated with his wimpy kids.”

Eridan rolled his eyes as well. “Are Tav and Ruf here too?”

“Yeah. Apparently, my parents have something to do here so we transferred. My idiot step-brother is super excited about the animals here, but I’m just here to figure out what’s going on.”

“What’s going on?”

“Well, yeah,” she sighed, patting his head again. “Something’s going on here, Lamepora, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”

He batted the hand away. “Of course you are.”

“I am, and not just that. There’s just so much going on, not that you’d understand any of. I just have soooooooo-”

“Don’t you fucking dare-“

“-many irons in the fire!”

Eridan groaned, running his hand through his hair. The amount of times he had heard that when he was younger made the phrase almost sickening, especially in that little drawl that no one did quite like Vriska Serket.

“Speaking of which…” she smirked at him in a way that made him feel more than a little nervous, though he’d admit that to the likes of her. “I have a particular iron to pick with you, so I might as well pick it while it’s still hot.”

“What is it, Serket? I’ve wasted far too much time on your tired shenanigans for another year of silence.”

“See, Eridan, this is why no one likes you. You’re so rude all the time when I’m just an innocent friend trying to ask you a simple question.” She put her hands on her hips and flipped her hair again.

“Get to the point, Serket.”

“Ugh, fine. Have you heard anything from your dad?”

That made him pause, looking up at her. “No? Should I have?”

“Oh, please. Don’t even try to play dumb. We both know he was part of the fight.”

“He was a naval captain.”

“Who spent quite a bit of time on Alternia! If they’re calling my parents, why wouldn’t they have called yours?”

Eridan frowned. His father didn’t like talking about the war, wanting to keep his children away from the whole thing. Eridan knew he’d been involved, but that was about it.

“He isn’t an  ambassador. Why would they have called him? Even if they had, how would I know?”

Vriska groaned loudly. “You’re useless. Why did I even bother?” She perked up when a loud ringing filled the air around them, pulling out her phone. “Hey, Mom.” After a moment of silence, she glanced at Eridan and shrugged. “Nothing important. Sure, just give me a minute.” She hung up without another word and smirked. “Well, wouldn’t you know it, something more useful came up, but thanks for helping me kill some time.”

“Whatever,” he mumbled as she strutted away from him, rubbing his temple with one hand and glancing at his phone. When he’d been younger her little comments had gotten to him, and on some level they still did, but he forced himself to focus on being irritated with her rather than the cold mass currently sitting heavily in his stomach.

CA: yeah its me

CA: this is fef right

It was a dumb question, but he might as well double check. Barely a few seconds passed before he got another notification.

CC: Yep!

CC: I’m s)(orey for )(ow S)(oallux acted this morning, )(e’s not usually that bad!

CC: I t)(ink )(e was just grumpy.

CA: its fine

CA: it aint your fault he doesnt like me

CA: cant say im too fond a him either

CC: I guess… )8c

CA: are those…your goggles on an emoticon

CC: )(ee)(ee! S)(ell yes!

CC: Aren’t t)(ey adorabubble?

CA: i suppose

CC: You s)(oald give it a try!

CA: wwhat an emoticon

CC: Yea)(!

CA: alright wwhatevver

CA: BI

CA: no that looks fuckin stupid

CC: Maybe if you make )(im smile?

CA: B]

CC: No that’s CUT—E!

CA: it looks dumb

CC: Yoar face is w)(hat’s dumb, )(ee)(ee!

CA: wwoah fef wwhat the fuck

CC: S)(orey )8D

Eridan rolled his eyes at the conversation, walking toward the dining hall. He didn’t want to risk going back to his room yet and he was beginning to feel an ache in his stomach, realizing he had yet to have anything but coffee today.

CC: T)(is morning was fun!

CA: yeah i guess so

CC: Sooooooooooooo

CA: wwhat

CC: We s)(oald dolp)(inately work out wit)( eac)( otter again!

CA: did you wwant to meet up again tomorroww mornin or somethin

CC: Of course!

CC: We can swim and work out and stuff!

CA: sounds like a plan

CA: and

CA: uh

CC: )8?

CA: wwe could get coffee again afterwwards

CA: if you wwant

CC: T)(at sounds great!

CC: O)(! I’ve got to go!

CC: I’ll sea you tomorrow!

CC: BY----------E!

ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]

Eridan smiled a little to himself, more than a bit excited for the following day. He wondered what kind of workout they could do, pausing as he realized he didn’t know if this school had a track. They probably did, but hell if he knew where it was.

A voice caught his attention. Geez, he was just fucking popular today, wasn’t he?

“Hey, Eri.” Cronus was sitting at a table not far from the door to the dining hall, waving in his direction. He had a tray in front of him that looked like he just sat down.

“Hey, Cro,” he said, sitting across from him.

“You gonna get food?”

Eridan glanced at the lines and grimaced. “Maybe in a bit…guess who I just saw.”

“Who?”

“Vriska Serket?”

Cronus raised an eyebrow. “What’s she doin here?”

He shrugged. “She said her parents got called here so she transferred. …she asked if I’d heard anything from Dad. Have you?”

The elder Ampora shook his head and spoke through a mouthful of food, making Eridan grimace. “Nothin since we got here. I was gonna message him later though.”

He nodded a little, looking up as someone sat beside Cronus. It was Roxy, a wide grin on her face. “Sup, Eri.”

“…hello, Rox,” he said, glancing at Cronus.

“Your brother showed up at the café right after you left,” she said, having caught the glance.

“If he started hittin on you, you have my condolences.”

“What the fuck, Eridan?” Cronus mumbled.

Roxy burst into laughter. “Well…maybe a little. But it was kinda cute what pick up like he used.”

Eridan raised an eyebrow and Cronus put his head in his hands. “What was it?”

“Well, I was standing behind the counter, my shift about to end, and he walked up and just said, ‘you come here often?’”

Eridan couldn’t help laughing, watching at his brother glared at him.

“I fuckin panicked, okay?” he huffed.

“Aw, don’t feel bad. It was a nice attempt,” Roxy giggled, draping her arm around Cronus’s shoulders. Her hand landed on his right arm and suddenly both of them stiffened. Cronus jerked out of her grip, staring at his arm with wide eyes as color spread like liquid over his skin.

The cat filled in with black and gray, the DNA colorful as it wound around his arm. The window things were silver and blue, the scarf turning pink as matching pink text suddenly made up a pattern of binary in the background.

He seemed at a loss for words, staring from the completed soulmark to the girl sitting next to him. She seemed just as shocked, pulling up one of her pink sleeves and peering at the color. The tattoo was a stage, the curtains made of sparkling ocean waves as musical scores dove in and out of the water, wrapping around her arm. The bottom of the stage was framed with stacks of books, the musical score seeming to trace back to a wand that sat among the pages. There was probably more, but that was all Eridan could see from where he was.

Cronus was staring at Roxy’s soulmark now, the representation of his soul on another person’s arm. Without seeming to realize what he was doing, he reached out and traced the notes of the music.

“That’s the first song I learned on guitar,” he mumbled.

Eridan got up, startling them both. “And that’s where I back the fuck out. You two have fun with… this.” He gestured to their arms, grabbing a plate and some food before sitting down at an empty table for just long enough to eat. When he caught himself glancing at his own marked arm for the dozenth time, he grimaced in disgust and stood, stalking out of the dining hall.

He was happy for Cronus, he really was, but it was hard not to be a little bitter as he stared at the pictures on his skin and tried to find meaning in them. He sighed, brushing his fingers against the bees that flew across his arm and wondering who they belonged to.

***

Damien Ampora sat on the deck of the boat he’d owned for most of his life, staring at the sky as the sun disappeared behind the horizon and the colors faded from red to purple to a deep blue/black dotted with stars. He took a sip from the bottle in his hand, the blinking lights of a ship disrupting the stars as it flew past.

His sons would no doubt be settling into their dorms by now, making friends and meeting people an entire planet away. It had been a little out of the blue when Eridan had suddenly signed up for the program, even more so when his brother followed suit.

It made the large house feel a little empty, probably the reason he was on the boat right now instead. The dock was on the edge of their property, the boat sitting in the gently rocking waters of the coast. It was older than both of his children and they had been sailing for most of their lives. Eridan had spent hours learning to navigate, his room still covered in star maps he’d drawn and found. Cronus had been less interested in navigation and just had fun seeing how fast the boat could go.

He took another drink, jumping a little when his phone went off. It was his personal phone, something that he rarely got any sort of calls on. Of course, this wasn’t a call. Just a message.

artisticCasanova [AC] began pestering dualScarred [DS]

artisticCasanova [AC] attached an image!

It took Damien a moment to realize what he was looking at. It was a slightly blurred photo of Cronus with his arm around a girl, his right arm visible and his soul mark filled him. Damien guessed that the girl was his soulmate. She smiled widely at the camera, flashing two peace signs.

AC: her name is Roxy

DS: Did you meet her through the study abroad?

AC: sorta?

AC: vwelcoming committee

Damien was happy for his son, glancing at his own arm. The mark there was long since blacked out, where they had just grown apart until one day she left. He could only hope Cronus would have better luck than he did.

DS: Havve you heard anything from your brother?

AC: sawv him earlier

AC: oh right

DS: WWhat?

AC: found out the Serket/Nitram’s are here

DS: And?

AC: apparently wvriska vwas askin eri if vwe’d heard from you

Damien frowned. It had been years since he’d had the…pleasure of seeing Minerva Serket, not since she’d married Simon Nitram. He knew Eridan was friends with Vriska, but that was all he’d heard of the family. What did she want with him?

A new chat window popped up, his eyes widening as he recognized the chumhandle of an old friend.

instinctivelyMaternal [IM] began trolling dualScarred [DS]

IM: Damien.

IM: We Need To+ Talk.

DS: Rosa?

DS: WWhat happened?

instinctivelyMaternal [IM] attached an image!

Damien felt his blood run cold at the picture of a horizon. On the very edge of sight, silhouetted by the light of the Alternian moons, was the terrifyingly familiar spikes of an Imperial ship.

DS: I’ll catch the next ship.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long  
> The chat logs killed me

The bright cheery tone of Earth music rang from Feferi’s palmhusk as she danced around her half of the room, braiding her hair and tying the end with the same scrunchie she always did. Jade was already gone for the day, most likely in the greenhouse or exploring the woods right next to campus with her older brother, but who really knows. She seemed really nice, but she didn’t stick around much. Maybe the two of them would get to hang out later though!

Speaking of older siblings, Feferi’s music cut off to sharply let her know someone was messaging her.

She swung her gym bag over her shoulder and grabbed the device, bouncing out the door to the beat of music that was no longer playing. She and Eridan had met at the gym for the past few days, though today was the first they wouldn’t be swimming.

cutthroatCastaway [CC] began trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC]

CC: yo fef

CC: )(ey Meenah!

CC: W)(at’s up?

CC: ug)(

CC: W)(at?

CC: i forgot )(ow muc)( t)(is sucks

CC: O)(! Rig)(t!

CC: One sec!

Feferi rolled her eyes a little, but she knew that Meenah would just keep complaining about the color without actually changing it, so this is the quickest way.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] changed to cuttlefishCuller [CC]

CC: T)(ere!

CC: T)(at’s baiter!

CC: finally

CC: 38P

CC: Anyway, w)(at’s up?

CC: tuna’s talkin again

CC: O)(! T)(AT’S GR-EAT!

CC: yea)(

CC: Does )(e remember anyfin?

CC: nope

CC: it fuckin sucks too

CC: cause everyone around here is runnin and tryin to find the fuckers but I can’t kelp

CC: fuckin ridiculous

CC: Dad’s keeping you close, )(u)(?

CC: I told you )(e would! But you didn’t bereef me! 38P

CC: …

CC: W)(at?

CC: its still fuckin weird to )(ear you call )(im t)(at

CC: W)(ale )(e’s naut exactly our ancestor, is )(e?

CC: I know it’s a human t)(ing, but I t)(ink it’s fun!

CC: Plus I know he appreciates it so 38PPPPP

CC: yea)( yea)(

CC: overprotective bass)(ole won’t let me go anywave

CC: like im some kinda guppy t)(at needs to be coddled

CC: W)(ale, maybe you can look at it less like you aren’t allowed to fig)(t and more like you’re protecting Tuna!

CC: )(e’s already got clownfish)( doin t)(at

CC: Come on, Meena)(! You don’t need to make t)(is difis)(cult!

CC: )(e’s probubbly just worried.

CC: You know if )(e could )(e’d )(ave all of us )(ome.

CC: ug)( I know

CC: quit bein sappy

CC: s)(it )(ere )(e comes

CC: gotta go

CC: Bye Meena)(!

CC: sea ya

CC: …

CC: and guppy?

CC: 38?

CC: be careful

cutthroatCastaway [CC] ceased trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC]

Feferi smiled a bit to herself as she stuck her palmhusk in her bag, her sister’s attempts to keep her cool persona a bit silly after the sweeps they’d spent together. It was still pretty uncommon for trolls to use human terms, but Feferi had always been drawn to the concept of a family, especially since she was one of the few among the Council’s children who wasn’t raised by her ancestor.

It probably helped that she had barely hatched when the former Empress had died, when a jade had found her and brought her before the newly established Council, along with the sweep old wriggler who shared her caste. She couldn’t remember that far back, but she’d been told time and time again about the day the descendants of the Empress had been presented to the Signless, how several of the rebels had suggested he wipe out the bloodline entirely. Instead he’d taken them in to raise along with his own descendants, the trolls who once stood at the highest tier running and playing hand in hand with off spectrum mutants.

The previous Empire would have imploded at the very sight of it.

“Fef?”

Feferi looked up at the man standing in front of her, zipping her bag and shoving it into a locker before grinning at him. Eridan’s expression was pretty much the same as yesterday, his eyes slightly narrowed, and his lips pulled down at the ends, as though he was suspicious of the world around him. The blonde streak at the front of his hair was falling into his eyes a bit and he grimaced at it as he brushed it back, the freckles across his nose scrunching up.

The fuchsia troll felt her fins fluttering slightly and immediately pressed them against the sides of her head to still them, though she knew that he would have no clue what it meant. Still, she didn’t really want other trolls in the area to see her blatantly pale-flirting with a human.

Not that she was pale for him! No, she just thought he was a cute kind of grumpy! The kind that made her trust he would tell her the truth, though his seemingly blunt nature probably helped with that too.

She bounced up to him, taking his hand in hers. “So, what’s the workout plan for this morning?”

He shrugged, looking around. “I don’t know. I’m still not familiar with Alternian tech yet. We could always stick with treadmills and stuff for today.”

Feferi’s head tilted, one fin perking up curiously. “Treadmill?”

Eridan’s face scrunched up again, this time in surprise, though it passed quickly. “Uh…It’s just a machine that lets you run without actually going anywhere.”

Her face lit up with understanding as she jumped a little. “Oh! You mean the Stationary Running Platforms!”

She turned and started dragging him toward them, hearing him mumble something about ‘ridiculous fuckin vocabulary’ under his breath.

“It’s not ridicufish! It’s a perfectly respectable language,” Feferi insisted through a giggle, watching him roll his eyes.

“It’s unnecessary.”

“It’s the reason our planet only has one language,” she retorted. “Which is baiter than Earth can say, isn’t it?”

She watched as his brows raised curiously. “Really?”

“Yes, reely! Geez, have you taken any Alternian History or Language classes?”

His face flushed, a look that Feferi still found fascinating. When trolls flushed, it was more like a slight tint of color to their skin, but Eridan’s face was almost completely red, making his freckles stand out even more as his skin seemed to try and match his hair.

“Well not yet! Classes don’t start for another two days!”

“And you weren’t in college before coming here?” She grinned, tilting her head and nudging him.

He puffed out his cheeks a little. “Hush,” he said, almost pouting, but getting on the platform nevertheless.

Feferi giggled, but let the subject go to step onto the platform next to his. She turned the machine on and started at a steady jog. When her sister was around, they would spar sometimes and when she was in the Capitol she would spend most of her time in the ocean, but when she was on campus she couldn’t always work out that much. It didn’t help that there were still plenty of trolls who only saw her as a fuchsia, leaving her feeling more than a little uncomfortable to work out on her own.

Or really, to leave her dorm on her own at all.

It wasn’t like she thought she was in danger, she just…hated the looks she got.

She patted Eridan’s arm and smiled at him when he glanced over. She still found it fascinating that humans’ eye and hair colors could vary so much, that Eridan’s emerald eyes had no bearing on his blood. They had been playing a sort of question game, though Feferi found herself asking the majority of the questions.

“You said you studied star charts back home, right?”

His expression flickered between confused, amused and curious for a moment before he settled on his almost scowling neutrality. “Yeah?”

“Well, I was wondering what the skies are like on Earth. Are they really that different?”

He paused for a moment, thinking with his lips pursed and his eyebrows furrowed. “It’s… similar I guess? We only have one moon there, of course.” His lips quirked up. “And the sun won’t burn anyone alive…well, in most cases at least. I mostly focused on the night sky for navigation stuff. My dad has a boat, so me and Cro used to go sailin all the time and he taught me how to do it. It was… nice. Just the water stretchin to the horizon and hidin all kinds a cool shit beneath it. I’ve been divin once or twice, but… I think that’s what I’m gonna miss the most while I’m here honestly.”

There were a few pauses, spaces where he wasn’t sure where his answer was going. Feferi got the feeling he wanted to talk a lot more than he did. If she let the silence sit for a bit longer, he’d usually end up filling it, though he did have a tendency to get irritable quickly and backpedal just as quickly, kind of like Karkat but with quicker turnarounds.

“The ocean?”

“Yeah,” his face seemed to shut down a little, as though he was only just realizing he was showing emotions.

“Whale, we _do_ have oceans here, shelly!”

Eridan’s brows rose, though his expression didn’t change much otherwise. “Well, yeah. But not here.”

“No,” Feferi admitted. “But there’s one right by the Capital. Next time I go, maybe you can come with!”

A moment of silence made her think she might have stepped over a line. Perhaps they hadn’t known each other long enough for her to be inviting him places? Oh shoot, she didn’t mean to mess up any human friendship rituals!

But when he looked at her, he had a tiny but genuine smile. “I think you meant Carpital.”

Feferi stuck her tongue out at him and shoved his shoulder, probably a little harder than she should have given that he stumbled to the side and lost his footing, the speed of the exercise device sending him flying off the end. He rolled a couple times before ending up on his back with a grumpy expression.

Without really meaning to, Feferi burst into laughter and barely was able to stop her own machine before she could suffer the same fate.

“I’m shorey, Erifin,” she giggled, putting her hands over her mouth to stifle the sound and only managing to make it worse.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” he grumbled, crossing his arms but making no attempt to actually get up. “I’m glad my suffering is so entertaining to you.”

“Oh, hush, you big guppy,” she huffed halfheartedly, the laughing subsiding but her smile refusing to leave. “Let me kelp you up.” She held out a hand.

He looked at it for a second before sighing heavily and taking hold of the offered assistance. “I suppose I have to.”

Feferi pulled him to his feet, watching him fumble a little bit once he was upright. “Wow you’re fuckin strong,” he mumbled, not seeming to realize he’d said it out loud until Feferi winked at him and flexed playfully.

“Whale thank you,” she laughed, unable to hold a serious face as Eridan’s face reddened. “I try.”

He huffed and looked at the other machines. “What else is there to do here?”

Feferi hummed and led him over to the weights. “We can use these! We really should come up with an actual routine for the future.”

Eridan shrugged and looked at the equipment. “I might once I’m more familiar with all of…this.” He gestured vaguely to the machine before fiddling with the amount of weight and sitting down. Though he was thin, he was stronger than Feferi would have given him credit for, though he had a bit of trouble not letting the weights crash back together. Without thinking, she put a hand on his arm and repositioned it a bit.

“I always keep my arms like this,” she explained, her voice faltering when he glanced at her. “It helps with control,” she finished quickly, letting his arm go. “Shorey.”

She bit the inside of her cheek, but he just adjusted his grip like she’d shown him. “Thanks, Fef. I take it you work out a lot?”

Feferi felt a bit relieved and chuckled. “I guess. I didn’t really have a lot to do on my own, so I trained with my sisters.”

Eridan tilted his head, brow furrowing. “Sisters? I thought trolls didn’t use human family terms.”

Feferi flushed, her fins folding back a little. “Whale, that’s true, but I didn’t really know what else to call them. Only one of them is my hatchmate, Meenah.”

“Oh. Who are the others?”

“You probably haven’t met them yet,” she shrugged, starting to use the equipment next to Eridan. “But they go here. Meulin and Nepeta.” She paused, not really sure if she was overdoing it by telling him all of this.

He glanced at her and nodded a little, as if saying ‘go on.’

So, she did.

“Meenah and I were brought to the Council when I was still a grub, mostly because of who our ancestor. A member of the Council took us in, raising us with his own descendants and those of his matesprit.” She smiled a little to herself. “I didn’t really know what to call him, since he wasn’t a lusus and he wasn’t my ancestor. When I found out about human family terms…they just seemed to fit.”

“Does Meenah go here?”

Feferi pursed her lips and Eridan quickly cut in.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No…it’s okay. I mean, if you don’t mind?”

“Fef, I’m the one who asked. No, I don’t mind.”

She smiled more easily, though she knew they were quickly pushing into morail territory. She thought back to what Sollux had said about humans not doing quadrants and swallowed hard. She’d talk to him about it, but for now…

“Meenah did go here, but one of our friends was hurt pretty badly, so she’s back at the Capital with him. I uh…I might go visit them soon.”

Eridan set the weights down and seemed to be mulling something over for a while before he finally looked at her again.

“Well, didn’t you say that you wanted to show me the ocean by the Capital?”

She perked up, tilting her head a little.

“I mean, I know that this might be more of a family and friends thing, but if you want some more support I could…” he trailed off, but Feferi grinned widely.

“That’d be great actshelly!”

This was definitely leaning towards pale, but at least for this she could say Sollux was going to be there. He might claim that he wasn’t pitch for the human, but their dynamic was more than a little amusing, especially with all of the times that he had already complained about him over Trollian.

It wasn’t long before they finished up, wiping down the equipment and grabbing their bags. Eridan gave an awkward wave as they parted ways, heading back to his own dorm. Feferi vowed to talk to him soon…about everything.

She pulled out her palmhusk to see if she had missed anything during the workout, a few messages catching her eye.

athleticallyTechno [AT] began trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC]

AT: F3F3R13??!?!

AT: M33N4H 541H 5H3 T4LK3D 7W0 Y04U?

CC: Tunafis)(?

AT: WH0 TH333 F4CK 4R3 Y000043U?

CC: W)(at? Tuna, it’s me! Feferi!

AT: H4H4 50UND5 F4K3

AT: WR0NG P1NKK F4K3F3R1

CC: O)( s)(ip

cuttlefishCuller [CC] changed to cuttlefishCuller [CC]

CC: Okray! It’s fixed!

AT:  0H W7777FFF??!?!

AT: 5UP F3F

CC: Naut much!

CC: You feelin baiter?

AT: 1 F33L FUCK11NG F1N3335

CC: You shore?

AT: Y34H!

AT: 1F 1 W45N7 F1N3 C0ULD 1 DO 7H15?

AT: SAKADJVBABVJUROINDSC

CC: Tuna?

AT: 0WWWW3WWWW

CC: Tuna?!

AT: 50000303 Y0U C4NT S33 7H15 BU77 1 D1D 4 51CK FL100P

AT: H3H H3H

AT: BU77

CC: Okray! I bereef you!

CC: Please stay in bed!

AT: F1N3

CC: Meena)( said you were reeling baiter but you couldn’t remember anything?

AT: 1

AT: 1

AT: N0P3

AT: C4N7 R3M3MB3R 5H17

AT: MY H34D

AT: F4CK

AT: 17 HUR7555555

CC: Tuna!

athleticallyTechno [AT] ceased trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC]

Feferi felt a little bit of cold fear settle into her throat, her fingers flying to open another chat.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began trolling controversialConversationalist [CC]

CC: Dad!

CC: FEFERI?

CC: Is Tuna okray?

CC: THERE WAS A 6IT 9F C9MM9TI9N AT HIS R99M A M9MENT AG9 6UT KURL9Z AND PSII ARE CURRENTLY WITH HIM

CC: I CAN G9 CHECK 9N THEM IF Y9UD LIKE ME T9

CC: I DIDN’T WANT T9 9VERWHELM HIM

CC: No it’s okray! I just got worried w)(en )(e left the c)(at so suddenly

CC: IF Y9U’RE SURE, FEFERI

CC: ARE Y9U ALRIGHT?

CC: 38?

CC: W)(y wouldn’t I be?

CC: I JUST TH9UGHT I W9ULD CHECK.

CC: I’M ALL9WED T9 W9RRY A69UT MY CHILDREN

CC: )(ee )(ee

CC: Yea)(, I’m fin

CC: AND EVERY9NE ELSE?

CC: I HAVEN’T HEARD FR9M KARKAT 9R KANKRI THIS WEEK.

CC: Karcrab is fin! I think Krabkri is too, but he’s been reely busy with the welcome week stuff so I haven’t seen much of him

CC: And I got coffee with Shoallux not too long ago, so you can tell Psii he’s fin too!

CC: Conchestly, it’s just kinda boring

CC: o)(! But I made fronds wit)( Karcrabs roomie! )(e’s cool and we work out toget)(er!

CC: WELL I’M GLAD THAT Y9U’RE MAKING FRIENDS. IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, D9N’T HESITATE T9 LET ME KN9W.

CC: Don’t worry! I’ll be fin!

CC: Tail Psii )(I for me!

CC: Disi and Rosa too!

CC: And, w)(ale, everyone I guess!

CC: I WILL.

CC: HAVE A G99D DAY, FEFERI.

CC: You too!

cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling controversialConversationalist [CC]

Feferi smiled with relief, placing her palmhusk back into her bag as she opened the door to her dorm. She knew Signless was worried, even if he tried not to let on how bad it actually was. Perhaps she’d visit the Capital earlier than she’d planned…

A small, almost unheard knock sounded from the door to the connected abolutionblock. Feferi’s fins perked up as she opened it, her face lighting up when she found herself face to face with the maroon eyes and curled horns of her suitemate.

“Evening, Aradia!” she chirped, feeling her stomach knotting up on itself. Ever since she’d shown Sollux her soulmark, he’d been convinced it was Aradia and the thought had planted itself into her head. She’d grown up with Aradia just as he had, though they had spent far less time together, and it was a little strange to think that her soulmate might have been so close all that time. Her arm throbbed as she thought about it and she quickly glanced down to make sure it was covered.

“Evening,” she replied with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Were you talking to the Signless?”

“Oh, geez,” Feferi huffed. “Are you doing the psychic thing again? I literally just got off the chat with him. Mituna’s doing a bit baiter.”

“That’s good.” Feferi remembered when Aradia was louder, sharper. It wasn’t that her fire had been put out, but more like it had been covered up. It was there, no doubt, but there was some sort of wall that kept the her Feferi knew from the one who had come to school with her. She knew that they had fallen out of touch for a few years, but could she have really changed that much?

The maroon troll had moved in only a few days ago, well after the rest of them had settled, and had a room to herself. This was the first time they’d hung out together alone since then and Feferi hated the fact that she didn’t know what to say. She was usually so good at talking, what happened?

“I saw Damara at the gym. She said you should come by sometime.”

“I don’t think that’s really my kind of place, but I’ll try to stop by. Have you seen Sollux?”

“Oh, yeah! He’s doing fin. Whale, maybe more than fin. I think he might have a thing for Karcrab’s roomie. Erifin? I think I told you aboat him.”

Aradia nodded, her curly hair moving slowly around her as if it was alive. Feferi guessed it was just her powers, though she’d never really understood what they specifically were.

“The Ampora, right?”

Feferi tilted her head. “I think so? Did I tail you his last name?”

“Have you told Signless that you’re friends with him?”

She frowned a little. “Why? I’ve told him I made a new frond. Is his name important?”

Aradia looked like she wanted to say something, but only gave Feferi a shrug.

Still confused and edging on irritated, Feferi pulled out her palmhusk yet again.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began trolling controversialConversationalist [CC]

CC: Dad, do you know anyone named Ampora?

CC: Dad?

controversialConversationalist [CC] is idle!

CC: ug)(

cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling controversialConversationalist [CC]

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began trolling electricIntelligence [EI]

CC: Psii?

EI: Y32?

CC: Is Dad busy?

EI: II 7hIInk h3’2 h3lpIIng R024 wII7h 20m37hIIng

EI: Wh47 dIId y0u n33d?

CC: Do you know anyone with the name Ampora?

EI: 0h 2hII7

EI: 7hII2 II2 4 ‘n0 quIIrk’ pr0bl3m, huh?

CC: O)( s)(oot!

CC: S)(orey I just got serifis)(!

EI: …

CC: S)(it!

CC: T)(e puns, I forgot!

CC: I’m so sorry

EI: II7’2 0k

EI: 7h3y ju27 m4k3 m3 kIInd4 twIItchy

CC: Sorry

CC: I’ll do my best from now on!

EI: 7h4nk2

EI: II d0 r3m3mb3r 4n 4mp0r4

EI: R024 w0uld pr0b4bly kn0w m0r3 ab0u7 hIIm 7h4n II d0

EI: 7h3y w3r3 pr3tty cl023

CC: T)(ank you! I’ll talk to )(er later!

EI: N07 4 pr0bl3m

EI: D0 m3 4 f4v0r th0ugh 4nd 73ll my d3c3nd4n7 7h47 4 c4ll 3v3ry n0w 4nd 7h3n w0n7 hur7

CC: )(ee )(ee!

CC: Will do!

CC: Bye!

EI: By3

cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling electricIntelligence [EI]

Feferi looked back up at Aradia, her brow furrowing a little. “Psii said Rosa might know someone named Ampora. Should we know his family?” She paused. “Do you know anyone by that name?”

“Of course not,” Aradia smiled. “I just thought the name sounded a little familiar.” She waved her hand, as if trying to shoo the subject away. “How’s Mituna doing?”

“Baiter, I think,” Feferi answered a little hesitantly. She felt like Aradia was hiding something, but she didn’t really want to accuse her of anything. “Are you alright? You seem a little…” she paused, unsure of how to word it.

“I’m fine,” she insisted, turning back toward her own door.

“Have you talked to Sollux lately?”

She swore she saw Aradia’s face drop a little before the expression passed. “It hasn’t been that long. I’ll message him in a while.”

“I’m sure he’s worried.”

“There’s nothing for him to be worried about,” she said quickly.

Feferi instinctively reached out. “I’m worried, too,” she said, grabbing her hand. Aradia stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening. Before the seadweller could drop her hand, she felt a sharp pain shoot up her forearm. She gasped, frozen as Aradia pulled her hand sharply away, rolling up the sleeve of her right arm.

Color was seeping across her skin, filling in the lines before their eyes. There was a cuttlefish swimming through waves that were quickly rolling into being across the tattoo, a thick golden shackle was inked around her wrist, gems set into the metal and a chain winding up her forearm and binding the cuttlefish. The chain ended in a trident that dug into her skin and Feferi winced at the reminder of her ancestor. Of course, that feeling was made worse by the cracked throne settled in the background and the rainbow-colored figure sitting on it. In the spaces to represent her friends there was a bee trapped inside a computer, a seahorse wrapped in a scarf, a pair of crabs, one angry and one open-mouthed, with a cloak wrapped around them like a blanket. Another trident crossed a shield, gold coins spilling out behind it.

Feferi couldn’t look away, even to look at her own arm, instead looking at every part of herself she could see on the others arm. “Aradia?” she mumbled, still dumbfounded. As many times as Sollux had insisted they were soulmates, she had never really put that much thought towards what would happen if that was confirmed. But past the surprise, she couldn’t deny she was excited. Warmth welled in her chest, a smile bright on her face as she looked to her own arm.

Her mark was colored in completely, the background shaded to look like the rocks of a dig site. It almost looked like she could brush dirt off of the images, like they were artifacts she could uncover. She lifted her head to meet Aradia’s eyes and froze once again when she saw the horror across her face.

“I...This isn’t how this is supposed to happen,” she said breathlessly, backing away step by careful step.

“What- what do you mean?” Feferi whispered, her voice just as quiet and confused as the joy faded. “We’re soulmates, Aradia. The proof is right here.” Her voice was starting to grow almost hysterical.

“We can’t be,” Aradia insisted. “It’s not the right time. This isn’t how things are supposed to go!” She shook her head violently before turning and running into her room. The door slammed behind her without her touching it and Feferi stood in the sudden silence that followed.

The warmth in her chest turned heavy and hard, no longer comforting her but burning her from the inside out. She grabbed her wrist and looked again at the freshly colored marks, at the soul of the girl who had just run away from the very idea of them being soulmates. She gripped her wrist harder, the tips of her claws scraping at the skin as she watched pink-tinted tears she didn’t know she was crying fall onto the skin. The mark beneath them rapidly darkened, spreading until the ghosts pouring from the skulls mouth were nothing but pitch-black patches of skin. Her soul bond was dying, decaying before her eyes.

A pained trill rang out from her chest, a sound of grieving far too high pitched for humans to hear. Feferi cut the sound off with a hiccupped breath, shoving out of her room with her palmhusk in one hand and the other arm held tightly to her chest.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]

CC: Are you at your dorm?

CA: yeah?

CC: What room is it?

CA: 311

CA: fef wwhats wwrong?

CA: you aint quirkin

cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]

She was lucky that she only passed a few students in her hurry to reach his dorm, most of them only giving her confused looks before moving along. When she reached the number, she knocked quickly, taking deep breaths.

Eridan was quick to open the door, his hair falling into his face while he wore a far to big for him band shirt and baggy sweatpants. He was the least put together she’d ever seen him, standing in his doorway with Karkat barely visible around him. A screen from somewhere in the room was playing a movie, but she didn’t care about any of that. She didn’t care that she had to bend down to shove her face into his chest, or that they weren’t really pale.

She cared that when she stuck out her arm for him to see, she could hear him suck in a sympathetic breath through his teeth, but he didn’t say anything. She cared that he pulled her inside and shut the door, fiddling with something the best he could with his arms full of troll, and the adorable music of a cartoon came on, one he knew she adored. The door opened again as Karkat slipped out and a warm blanket wrapped around Feferi’s shoulders.

She looked up at him as he stepped back, handing her a box of tissues and gathering several pillows to drop around them, making some kind of nest instead of a pile. When he joined her, he looked nervous, unsure of each comforting action made.

By the end of the movie, most of the tissues were gone and Eridan finally asked what had happened. Feferi paused, rubbing her arm.

“It’s kinda shelly to be nerfish aboat this after coming all the way over here,” she mumbled.

“What do you mean?”

“…it’s just…reely pale? But I mean all of this is. But it’s probably just a human thing and I’m reading too much into it and now I’m rambling this isn’t even your problem why-“

“It could be,” he said, the words barely even sound. Feferi froze and he continued. “Kar showed me a lot of pale movies and stuff and…it looks nice? I guess that’s a weird way of saying it. But I know there’s a lot we still don’t know about each other, but I like helping you and listening and I think that you’re kinda tryin to help me too? But even if it doesn’t work out I’d… kinda like to give it a shot?”

Feferi stared at him. “Are you…asking me to be your morail?”

Eridan winced. “…yeah?”

The silence only lasted a moment before she hugged him tightly, all of the tension draining from their bodies as she started a fresh bout of crying. He pulled her closer and attempted a clumsy pap that only made her laugh through her tears, her fins fluttering wildly.

Maybe this wouldn’t work out. Maybe they couldn’t help each other at all.

But that was for the future and for right now, even though nothing was okay she had something who could help her believe that it would be.


End file.
